Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir broke the world record in ice dancing total points with a dynamic, brilliant free dance to win their second gold medal in Pyeongchang.

The pair, who took gold in Vancouver in 2010 and silver in Sochi in 2014, narrowly ousted French pair Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, while American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani took bronze.

Meanwhile, British figure skating pair Penny Coomes and Nick Buckland finished 11th overall. Dancing to Butterflies and Hurricanes by Muse, and looking to build on the short-dance score of 68.36, the Brits ultimately dropped out of the top 10 after scoring 101.96 in the free dance.

Moir and Virtue have dominated the event since they returned to competition, after retiring following a silver at the Sochi Games four years ago.

They made a comeback late in 2016 and powered to a number of world records with only one defeat along the way.

That loss, in the Grand Prix Final in Japan last December, was to Papadakis and Cizeron, who struggled in their short programme on Monday after the top of Papadakis's costume came loose.

Tessa Virtue and Scott MoirGetty Images

The pair's ethereal free dance had the audience at the Gangneung Ice Arena clapping and set a new world record for both the free skate -- they scored 123.35 and topped the Canadians -- and the total score.

Virtue and Moir broke that record fewer than 15 minutes later, when they scored 122.40 in the free programme, having taken a 1.74-point lead from the short skate.

American siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani, known as the "Shib Sibs", won bronze after entering the free dance in fourth. They finished on 192.59.